Higher Ground
by Don'tKillKenny
Summary: The Government and architecture of Higher Ground, built after the Worst War made the earth a radioactive wasteland is praised globally for its innovation, fairness, and efficiency. All who work hard and are deserving will be rewarded. This truth is all Madoka's ever known. But how could anyone say what happened to Sayaka was fair? Non-magical dystopian AU. Warnings inside.


**Chapter One**

Madoka breathed out nervously as she studied her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She wasn't sure what look she should go for. Professional? Pretty? Unique? Memorable?

"Relax, Madoka. You're not going for a job interview; we eliminated those decades ago. This is just a career fair so you can decide what career you want to request from the HEPS. I think your red ribbons will look great today." Her mother, Junko said reassuringly. Madoka tried to smile confidently back, but it came off as more of a grimace.

Madoka felt like she looked so young in her cream, red and black school uniform next to her Mom's polished and pressed violet pantsuit. Even though Madoka sought daily style and general life advice from her successful mother every day, it somehow never transferred properly down the genetic line. Madoka sometimes wondered if she had been switched at birth and somewhere, there was a confident young amethyst-haired girl poised and ready to take on the world.

"I know, Mom. I just wonder if any of the presenters could somehow tell the HEPS not to place me in their industries if they think I'm just too wrong for it."

"Good thinking. Definitely use the ribbons. Maybe then you won't be placed in the military!" Junko laughed. Madoka smiled genuinely back.

Madoka's citizenship bracelet, or CB for short, beeped as a reminder message was holographically displayed to her. It was reminding her that she had an event, the career fair, beginning in an hour.

"Hmm, we should probably get moving. How do I look?" Junko always asked that question, even though it may as well have been rhetorical. Junko always looked good. Everyone knew that.

"Great Mom." Madoka smiled sincerely.

"Alright! Let's see what delicious breakfast your Dad has made and get going."

They quickly ate some eggs and toast. Junko left calmly; her transpod, or transportation pod, was already hovering, ready to take her to work. Madoka did not have one, so naturally she left sprinting out the door, just as she did every morning. Someday she would actually leave early enough to take the time to smell the beautiful flowers that lined a well-paved path to school; but today would not be that day.

Thankfully, her best friends were waiting by the large cherry blossom tree for her, just as they did every morning.

"Good morning!" She said out of breath.

"Good morning Madoka." Hitomi Shizuki smiled pleasantly. Hitomi was a beautiful girl with porcelain skin and emerald hair. She was obviously not switched at birth; she was a spitting image of her socialite philanthropic mother. Her mother was particularly well respected for the fundraising work she did for the arts community of Higher Ground, their homeland. Otherwise, there were not really any causes that needed donating to; Higher Ground was so efficient that nobody who worked hard would be in need.

"Glad to see you got up, sleepy head!" Sayaka grinned impishly. Oh, Sayaka. She was an eccentric blunette; definitely the most 'colourful' personality of their little group of friends. Her parents were certainly not from the same social class as their own were, but they still attended all sorts of functions.

Sayaka's parents had been small business owners who had had some of their parents as clients. After Higher Ground decided to converge every industry into their own corporations, small businesses that were deemed inadequate were not absorbed got shut down. The main advantage of creating monopolistic industries had been the ease of market planning that came out of it; supply could be perfectly matched to demand, and the perfect price could be set. There would also never be a trade off between efficiency and fairness; there was no competition to make you lower your costs at the expense of laying off good, hardworking citizens. It therefore provided for maximum job security. The general consensus was that Higher Ground had gotten much better since the Industrial Act took place.

Sayaka's parents' businesses had been shut down. Her family still had a spacious apartment and nice things, so they had come out of it all pretty well. Both of her parents were transferred to other industries and had stable jobs and incomes now. Madoka imagined that it must be nice not having to worry about profits every minute of every day; now they could focus on family!

"Sorry I'm late. Thanks for waiting." Madoka rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Bah, we'd never leave you behind. You're too cute for us not to bring you. Who are you trying to impress today with those ribbons, huh? You're trying to make new friends, or meet a boy? Maybe flirt with the industry speakers? Copy cat! That was my strategy!" Sayaka laughed as she pounced on Madoka who squealed in embarrassment and delight. Hitomi merely smiled and rolled her eyes at her quirky friends' antics.

"Come on girls. We're going to be late. We can't miss this!" Hitomi chided and off they went.

"I'm feeling a bit nervous about this…" Madoka felt lame and ridiculous saying that. She knew she had no reason to be, but she was. Deciding what to do for the rest of your life was a big decision...

"Why? The hard part's done. I am so happy those exams are done. They were killer! I swear there were questions on them that we had never studied in class before..." Sayaka looked down and bit the corner of her lip as she pondered some of the questions.

Sayaka was right; the exams were done. At the end of ninth year, every youth in Higher Ground had to take four weeks of standardized exams. These were to measure aptitude in twenty competencies, like math, history, linguistics, physical abilities, biology, chemistry, visual arts, and more. There was a personality test done too, but there was no numerical grade assigned. This was done so the HEPS, or Higher Education Planning System, could determine what career and industry you were best suited for. The HEPS would then plan what your education plan for the next three to five years would be. This greatly decreased the amount of time spent in school. HEPS would only match people based on what jobs were available, so no one would ever have to worry about being unemployed when they finished their education. Everyone was ready for the workforce immediately afterwards.

The career fair was always held after testing was done. In the past, the career fair was held first. However, students were catering their study plans to what fields they thought they wanted to be in, leading the system to think that they had a higher natural aptitude in some areas than they really had. When the students found out later that they did not like the careers they tried to be in, it caused a huge mess. So now, the career fair was held after so it would be much harder to cater study plans and personality test results to specific jobs.

"Sayaka, there was a certain amount of extra readings you had to do! Didn't you get the HEPS Exam Preparation manuals? There was one for every competency." Hitomi looked very concerned. Madoka was as well. She had been given hers two years ago and studied from them every night! Sayaka laughed in good nature.

"Haha, nope! I didn't want to screw with the system, you know? I decided to stick with the class materials that everyone was given. You know, this way the tests will really be able to find my natural strengths, right? I'm just being a good, responsible citizen unlike you cheaters!" Sayaka's grin was infectious and Madoka found herself smiling too.

"I admire your pluckiness Sayaka. I don't think I could be so brave." Hitomi responded in concern and exasperation.

"Being brave and plucky is what I do! Come on! Let's hear what the good careers are." Sayaka hurried off ahead of them. Madoka had to go into a light jog to keep up with her.

"Slow down Sayaka! Your legs are longer than mine." Madoka felt silly saying that, but it was true. Sayaka did have longer legs and was naturally more athletic than any of them.

To be brutally honest, Madoka suspected that that was the only competency Sayaka may have excelled in. She never was the studious type.

"Haha, sorry! I guess I'm just too excited!" Sayaka laughed. Sayaka's carefree attitude helped put Madoka at ease. Madoka did admire it most of the time, but sometimes she thought her friend could be a bit _too_ carefree.

"Hi girls! I was worried you were going to be late." Kamijou Kyousuke waved in a friendly manner to them. He had been talking with his friend Nakazawa.

"No, no, we just decided to take our time a bit and enjoy the sunshine." Hitomi smiled. She and Kyousuke smiled and held eye contact in silence for a bit longer than what was usual for a casual greeting. Madoka decided not to point it out.

"I'm glad those exams are done with." Nakazawa tried to start a conversation.

"Ugh, me too! I just went home and ate a tub of ice cream after they were done! That might be a good plan for tonight too." Sayaka blabbered on, while Madoka looked around her. They were all meeting in the massive atrium of the school. Classmates from their school and Higher Ground third regional preparatory school, the school from the next region over were gathered there.

Higher Ground was separated into seven regions. Every region was equally wealthy and had nearly equal amounts of activity from every industry. The Higher Ground government and its citizens were proud of this equality. It was also possible to have the job you were selected for in any region, so you didn't have to move unless you wanted to. You might have to move for further schooling though. They all happened to live in the fourth region.

The headmistress walked onto the stage. Everyone rushed to take a seat.

"Good morning everyone! I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you, particularly our friends from the third region that had to wake up quite early to travel here." Everyone smiled pleasantly.

The headmistress was a proud, but odd-looking woman. She was _very_ tall; taller than most men even. And yet she still insisted on wearing the highest heels money could buy. She wore an ivory pant suit and sea green blouse that accentuated her willowy figure and pale skin. Her grey and blonde hair was tightly curled and framed her sharply pointed face in a rather unflattering way. Her thick rimmed glasses were shaped like cat eyes and did nothing to soften her features either. According to Madoka's mother, the woman was still following the trends of thirty years ago.

"Now, as I am sure most of you are aware, we are going to be having a number of presenters discussing their industries today. I am pleased to inform you that some of our presenters are actually recent graduates who can tell you exactly what to expect.

"We have speakers from the following industries: science and technology; medicine and health; governance and education; military; corporate and finance; transportation and logistics; arts and culture; and last, but certainly not least, services and other. We will not be having a speaker for manufacturing and natural resource extraction, unfortunately. I would now like to introduce our first speaker."

The presentations droned on and on. Madoka tried her best to listen, but it was difficult when every presentation was forty five minutes to an hour long. It was particularly painful and confusing because many of the industries had a wide array of subindustries that required a great deal of explaining too. She was grateful that all of the presentations were recorded and she could check them on her CB later.

The only field that had really struck her was medicine and health. In particular, she had always wanted to be a veterinarian. She was surprised it was included under that area.

She loved animals and she loved helping. She couldn't imagine that she scored particularly above average in anything. Unless her parents could contribute a lot of points to her, she probably would not be placed in that field; it was quite competitive.

She noticed Hitomi and Kyousuke paying rapt attention to the arts and culture industry presentation. She had no doubt that they would be placed in that industry, particularly Kyousuke. He was a well-known violin prodigy throughout the third, fourth, and fifth regions.

She noticed that Sayaka was sitting stiff as a board.

"Are you alright, Sayaka?" Madoka whispered as quietly as she could, which realistically was not quietly at all. Sayaka nodded hastily, not taking her eyes off of the presentations. Madoka had never seen her friend so focused before, which was too bad; it probably could have helped her grades and test scores.

"Thank you Tanaka-san for your fascinating presentation on science and technology! I would not like to invite Tomoe Mami to introduce the military industry."

Tomoe Mami…Madoka recognized that name from somewhere. She immediately recognized from where when a beautiful young busty blonde with drill-curls walked across the stage. She had graduated from their school last year. They were using _very_ recent graduates.

"Hello everybody! Some of you may recognize me; I graduated from the fourth regional middle school just last year. I have been extremely honoured by the Headmistress and my industry to be able to speak with you all today." Mami said kindly. Madoka was a bit surprised looking at her; she did not seem like a military type at all.

Mami explained the various subdivisions of the military: law enforcement, weapons development, foreign affairs (which was her division), air, and the ground corps. Each subdivision had further subdivisions, but those would be explored more if anyone were actually placed in the military industry.

"We have many positions that are expected to become vacant in the next few years, so we are always looking for more recruits. This could be an excellent field for many of you! I am sure some of you in this room will join us, and I look forward to working with you." Mami bowed politely. She got a polite round of applause.

There were a few questions from students, just like every industry had. Madoka was not brave enough to ask any, even though she had some.

"What subdivisions have the most opportunities?"

"The Ground Corps." Madoka could understand why. She had heard horror stories of the Ground Corps. They were essentially called into the most dangerous situations, both on Higher Ground and below…she couldn't imagine what was down there though. Everything had been wiped out in the nuclear war almost two centuries ago. It was a radioactive pit; that was why Higher Ground was built approximately 4,000 meters above in the first place. Higher Ground was regularly praised for being an architectural wonder in and of itself.

"Don't the Ground Corps have a very high mortality rate?"

"It has been getting better. The military industry is working diligently to ensure that all of its employees work under the safest conditions possible."

"What is the mortality rate?"

"The military industry's work has decreased the mortality rate by thirteen percent over the last two years alone." Tomoe said in a way that implied that she was very proud of this achievement.

"But what is the mortality rate?"

Tomoe Mami looked uncomfortable. This was doubtlessly a question she was encouraged not to answer.

"Approximately forty percent in the first five years of service. The Ground Corps are very rewarding though as you are serving and protecting your country. As well, once you have completed your five years of full service in the Ground Corps, you can choose to be transferred into any other military subdivision you want. In fact, you can even receive support to retake the standardized exams and try to enter a different industry altogether. The military industry will even provide an additional fifteen thousand points towards any employee who pursues these options."

There was a murmur in the crowd. Fifteen thousand points was a _lot_ ; most parents could only put in eight to ten thousand. Fifteen thousand would be more than enough to essentially guarantee entry into any industry they wanted unless you really bombed almost every competency.

Madoka didn't pay attention to her blue-haired friend next to her, who was starting to fidget nervously.

* * *

When everyone was finally dismissed, it was already five pm.

"What a day! Do any of you feel like you know what you want to do?" Kyousuke asked.

"I'm not sure what in particular I would like, but I know I want to go into arts and culture. I'm worried because there are so few jobs there, so I'm sure my chances of getting in aren't very good." Hitomi said sadly.

And in Sayaka's opinion, modestly.

"It's not too late for your parents to put in a few more points. I think my parents are putting in their last pay cheques into mine." Nakazawa tried to comfort her. It worked, and Hitomi smiled gratefully.

"Yes, I am very lucky. I am sure my parents will help me out as much as they can."

"How many points have they given you right now?" Kyousuke asked. Sayaka tensed up. It was a generally accepted social convention that _no one_ discuss how many points their parents had purchased. It was tacky to show off how rich your parents are.

Also, you never knew who may not have been able to buy them.

"Kyousuke! You can't ask things like that!" Hitomi was flabbergasted. Sayaka imagined she must have scored very high on the social and cultural competencies. Kyousuke would need help there.

"Oh I'm sorry. I thought we could ask things like that amongst friends." Kyousuke blushed and looked down in shame. He had the look of a kicked puppy.

Sayaka wanted to hug and console him; hell, if she was honest with herself, she wanted to do a lot more than that. But she knew he would never like something like that. He only saw her as a friend, and he would never see her as anything more. They were way too different. He was so talented and devoted and cultured and _him._

He was so far out of her league it hurt sometime.

"My parents put in nine thousand." Nakazawa shrugged. "That should be enough to help me out, at least."

"Mine put in fifteen thousand. I hope that's enough." Madoka said nervously.

Sayaka loved Madoka, she really did; but that didn't mean she didn't want to hit her right now.

The points system was the bane of Sayaka's existence.

In the standardized exams, there are twenty competencies. Each competency is ranked out of fifteen hundred points, meaning there are thirty thousand points in total. Everyone receives points based on percentiles. So if someone was in the fiftieth percentile in a competency, they would receive fifty percent of the points, or seven hundred fifty points in that competency. The students would be placed into the positions based on meeting the minimum point requirements for whatever field they wanted to go into. The minimum point requirements may change year to year based on the number of positions available and the number of requests made for certain positions.

Parents could buy additional points for a certain amount. These points would automatically be allocated by the HEPS into the competencies that their child needed more points in to get the career they wanted. It was recommended that every parent put in a minimum of eight thousand points.

There was a catch though.

Parents could only put in money they own. Because all of the industries report to the central government, including the banking component of the corporate and finance industry, it was possible to see if parents owed money. If the families had $5,000 in their bank account but owed $4,500, they could only use $500 to purchase points. This was because too many 'lazy parents' took out mass amounts of debt they could not pay back in a million years to get their kids points.

After the Industry Act wiped out her parents' businesses, they were up to their necks in debt from having to repay old loans and customers who did not get the services they paid for. They had been given a bit of remuneration to have their businesses closed, but everyone just got a small fixed amount based on the number of people who had been employed full-time previously; her parents had only had part-time help before. It definitely didn't help that they liked to act like they had a lot more money than they did to convince their wealthier friends that they were still well off.

Which was why her parents put together all of the money they had, literally all of it, to put a whole 189 points behind Sayaka.

And those fucking manuals that had extra _required_ information that Hitomi lectured her about? Those cost a shit ton of money too and weren't transferable between students.

A shit ton of money that of course, her parents didn't have.

Apparently if she had scored in the top five percent of children from 'families with financial difficulties', as the HEPS put it, in the primary school standardized tests at the end of fifth year, she would have received all of those manuals free of charge when she was eleven. She really regretted focusing on playing with her friends instead of studying from when she was five to ten.

The points system was meant to be an incentive to parents to make sure they were financially responsible and reward them for their hard work. Almost everyone thought it was a great system. Her parents and a lot of the other entrepreneurs who had been forced to close up shop disagreed. One time they tried to write a letter to the government and media protesting the system, but it never seemed to have made it anywhere.

Sayaka absolutely hated it.

"I am sure that will be plenty Madoka. You couldn't have done that badly." Hitomi smiled. Madoka nodded, though she did not appear very reassured.

"Are you alright, Sayaka? You seem quiet." Kyousuke asked. She really wished he would get a clue and drop this topic and any other topic relating to it.

"Hm? Yeah, just thinking is all." Sayaka shrugged off his concern.

"About what?"

"About what kind of ice cream I'm going to eat tonight." Everyone laughed. Everyone went their own separate ways. Sayaka went the long road down the big hill to get to the outskirts of the fourth region. That was why she was so fit; she had a very long walk to take twice a day.

Sayaka tried to sneak inside their apartment as quietly as possible. Sayaka had lied to them and said that she thought she did well in most of the exams. She lied and said the manuals hadn't been too important and she was fine without them.

She hoped if she lied enough, she could believe it herself and her lies would become true.

Fake it until you make it. Wasn't that the expression?

"Sayaka? Is that you?" Her mother called out from the kitchen. Sayaka winced.

"Yeah, it's me, Mom." She sighed. She was hoping she could get away with just going straight to bed.

The final grades from the exams were going to be sent to her CB tonight.

Her CB displayed a little yellow flashing light. That signalled that there was something wrong with her health. She held her right hand over the ovular pendant and pulled back, spreading her fingers out. This made the menu screen be displayed holographically. It would be much easier to read on the enlarged hologram than the small ebony pendant.

All of her icons were green except for one that had a little yellow cross shape, which signified her bracelet's health monitoring functions. She tapped it.

It was concerned that her adrenaline readings were too high.

Sayaka sighed quietly and dismissed the warning.

Every citizen of Higher Ground had a CB. They were embedded into the bone of their left wrist and powered by their blood circulation. Sayaka had once said that she thought it was a bit freaky, and her friends laughed at her CBs were practically everything; they were identification, health monitors, communication devices, methods of payment, data storage, and more. Heck, Sayaka used hers for games half the time.

"How was the career fair today?" Her Mom smiled. She looked very similar to Sayaka, though her hair and eyes were both a mousy brown. Sayaka got the whole blue theme from her father's side, she suspected.

"It was alright. Total information overload though."

Her Mom nodded. "Do you have any idea what you're going to request tomorrow?"

Sayaka shrugged. "I don't know. Everything sounds so cool. I guess I'll be happy wherever I end up!" She lied effortlessly.

She didn't think she had a chance of getting into the field she wanted, so why hope?

"Oh come on, you must have some sort of preference! Is there a particular industry you're leaning towards?"

Sayaka tried in vain to convince her that she had no strong preferences one way or the other. Of course it was a lie. Sure, she wasn't dead set on any one career path, but there were definitely some she would prefer to others.

There was really only one she _didn't_ want to get. She couldn't imagine why _anyone_ would actually _want_ that one.

And naturally, it was the position that was trying to recruit the most aggressively. Probably because nobody wanted to do it.

Sayaka's CB beeped again. This time, it was a message. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She opened it.

The results of her exams came back.

"Are those your exam results?" Her mother sounded anxious rather than excited. Sayaka swallowed nervously and nodded.

She opened them.

She felt tears welling up behind her eyes. This was _bad_.

"Oh…well look at this! You did fantastically in the ethics and physical fitness competencies! That's great! I'm so proud of you, sweet pea." Her Mom smiled, but it was clearly forced. She looked like she was about to cry too.

Sayaka was below average on all other eighteen competencies.

 **Xx**

"Today's a big day, Madoka! What field do you think you're going to request?" Her father asked happily.

They had gotten some fantastic news last night. Madoka earned a total of 16,372 points on the exams. Her personality test showed that she was exceptionally caring. With her parents' point contributions, she would be able to get into any field that she wanted.

"You've worked hard and the world is your oyster." Junko said proudly. Madoka blushed.

"Well, I have so many options open because of how much you're helping me." She wanted to be modest and keep everything in perspective. It was true after all.

"Oh nonsense! Everyone gave their kids points. You worked hard and you're solidly ahead of the pack on your own. There was a lot of tough competition out there! You should be proud. And tomorrow, you're going to find out what field you got into; you're set! Do you have the invitation files I sent you?" Junko asked.

Madoka nodded with an eager smile. Her parents had offered to let Madoka, her friends, and their families have a celebration dinner at their house tonight. Madoka was ecstatic to have the Shizukis and Mikis over.

"Thanks for letting me have them over. I'm really excited for it." Madoka gave a respectful nod of gratitude. Her mother looked like she was resisting the urge to ruffle her hair and mess it up.

"Oh cut it out, this is your night. You deserve it! It's great to appreciate everything, but don't be afraid to boast a bit. There's nothing wrong with having confidence, especially when you've earned it." Her mother winked.

Madoka nodded, but couldn't say anything in reply. She would never be able to be that confident herself.

"Oh, time to go!" Her Mom got up and gave Tatsuya and her husband a kiss and high-fived Madoka. Madoka shoved a last piece of toast in her mouth and ran out the door as her father and brother wished her a good day behind her.

As she did every morning, she sprinted to the tree to meet her two friends who evidently had better time management skills than she did this early in the morning.

Actually, her one friend this morning.

"Good morning Hitomi! Where's Sayaka?" Madoka was a bit concerned. Sayaka hadn't seemed sick at all yesterday.

"She sent me a message saying she's not feeling well and is staying home. That's too bad. It would have been nice to get her opinion on a few things…" Hitomi said, fidgeting with her CB.

"Oh, are you worried about what career you're going to request?"

Hitomi smiled at her, almost like how one would smile as a naïve child.

"Yes, that's one thing. I think I'm going to ask for a career in Arts and Culture, but I really have no preference for what. Hopefully they can determine what is best based on my exam results. I don't think they even need to use many of my parents' points." Hitomi was very straightforward, almost like Junko. Madoka admired that, because Hitomi somehow managed to say things like that in a way that was not bragging…her mother had never quite gotten the hang of that.

"Wow, really? That's great Hitomi! Congratulations!" Madoka was genuinely happy for her friend. She worked harder than any of them, after all. It was hard to get everyone together because she so often was either at an extra-curricular activity, lesson, or studying.

"Thanks Madoka. Are you happy with your results too?"

"Well…I did alright. I'll need most of my parents' points, but I'm set." Madoka smiled. She wondered how Sayaka did.

"Congratulations to you too! That's fantastic to hear." Hitomi seemed a bit distracted. "Madoka, I know this is none of my business, but I'm worried so I want to ask."

"What is it?"

"Has Sayaka told you anything about…well….her? She's so good at putting on a brave face, but I can't help but worry about her. I mean, she didn't even have any of the manuals, and I can't help but wonder…"

Frankly, Madoka had worried about the same thing. Sayaka would have asked for help of some sort if she needed it though…right?

"I don't know, I'm sorry." Madoka apologized. She faintly recognized that she didn't really have to apologize for that, but it just felt natural to do. Hitomi nodded solemnly.

"I hope she's alright."

"Me too…oh, Hitomi? Are you busy tonight?" Madoka was eager to change the topic. She didn't feel right talking about such matters about her friend behind her back.

"Hm? No, Thursdays had always been a study night for me. Why do you ask?"

"My Mom…sorry, my parents have offered to let everyone come to our house to celebrate the end of exams and wish us luck with our selections!" She tried to sound as excited as she could. Really, her spirits were down after talking about Sayaka. Now she was just worrying about her best friend.

"That sounds lovely, thank you Madoka. I'll ask my parents, but I hope to be there. Who else are you inviting?"

Madoka quickly forwarded the invitation to Sayaka, with a message wishing her to get well quickly.

She got a fast response.

 _"Sorry, I think I came down with the flu. You guys have fun though! Thanks for the invite!"_

"Um…I guess I could invite Kamijo's family? Sayaka says she's really sick. She might have the flu."

"That would be great." Hitomi's face and demeanor seemed to brighten at that. "I think that would be a lot of fun."

Madoka nodded, though with less certainty than Hitomi.

She really didn't think Sayaka was telling the truth.

* * *

Sayaka felt bad about lying to Madoka, but it was the right thing to do today.

There weren't going to be any classes today anyways. It was all about talking with career counsellors, friends, teachers, and industry experts about what requests they should make.

Requests were due at 3:30 pm. If you didn't submit a request, you would automatically be selected based on your highest competencies.

Or where they needed the most people.

Sayaka let some silent tears roll down her face.

She wanted to have hope. She wanted to have faith.

It just seemed so incredibly unlikely though.

 _This is my own fault. I should have studied more like Hitomi. Or asked to study with someone who did have the manuals._

The manuals weren't physical documents. They were files sent to your CB libraries and were non-transferable (as her parents learned). The only way she could have used them too was if she used them with Hitomi and Madoka at the same time, and she felt bad about interrupting their studying. Sayaka, as she was told, could be very distracting. Sayaka just wasn't very good at disciplining herself and sitting still for a few hours at a time to study. It was like she needed to take breaks every fifteen or twenty minutes.

Hitomi would have probably only let her study with her once in a blue moon and she would have made Madoka's results suffer.

 _This is completely my own fault. I didn't try hard enough. I was just too stupid and undisciplined.  
_

Sayaka's body shook with sobs, but she didn't make a sound. She'd already heard her mother crying last night and she didn't want to make it worse.

 _I need a miracle._

* * *

Both the Shizukis and Kamijos came for dinner.

"Well, if Sayaka has the flu, one of the best remedies is a freshly made soup with herbs. I can prepare a thermos to bring to her if you'd like." Her father offered kindly.

Madoka nodded happily. "That sounds like a great idea! Thank you Papa!"

"I would wait to see how she's feeling tomorrow. She might just want to be alone right now." Kamijo-san, Kyousuke's father and high-ranking senior finance manager at the bank who looked the part said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Junko raised an eyebrow but made no comment.

"Yeah, you're right. I bet she wouldn't want anyone to see her if she's as sick as she says." Madoka wanted to believe that was all it was. The pitying look on Kamijo-san's face that was quickly replaced by a kind smile and nod did nothing to ease her worries.

Dinner was pleasant enough. They all alluded to their results, but did not provide any firm numbers.

"I'll definitely need the extra points for the social and cultural competencies if I want to be employed in the orchestra." Kamijo blushed and rubbed his neck sheepishly. Everyone laughed in good humour.

Afterwards, Tatsuya was tucked into bed while the older kids could watch a movie. Madoka couldn't quite place why, but she felt pretty uncomfortable being alone with Hitomi and Kamijo. She felt like she didn't belong.

"I'm going to get another piece of Papa's tiramisu. Do either of you want one?" Madoka was looking forward to getting away for a bit. They both politely declined and she hurried out. She wasn't sure where to go; should she go to her room for a bit and call Sayaka? Or should she actually just take her time getting some tiramisu before going back? She had a feeling that she wouldn't be too missed if she was gone for a while.

"Kamijo…I couldn't help but notice the way you were talking about the Mikis' daughter before. I'm just curious, but is everything alright? I know it's none of my business but she's Madoka's best friend." Junko said in a hushed voice in the kitchen. Madoka's eyes widened in shock as she scurried to hide around the corner. She knew eavesdropping was wrong but…she was really worried too.

"No. No, it doesn't look good for her." The man sighed. "Her parents came to me asking for money to buy more points for her. They couldn't even afford the manuals and the girl isn't exactly the brightest bulb in the box as it is."

Madoka heard her Mom make a muffled sound of frustration and concern.

"They had nothing? Absolutely nothing?"

"The Industry Act wiped out their businesses and they owe a lot of money. I thought they would have known that they couldn't borrow from me. I think they were hoping maybe I could somehow bypass the system and transfer some funds in a way that didn't look like a loan, but how could I do that? We need to submit reasons behind every transfer now that can't make it look like they are running any kind of business or soliciting donations to an unrecognized cause. Transfers from _my_ account in particular would be very closely monitored ever since the damn Mikuni scandal from a few years ago."

"Oh Christ, that's terrible. I wish there was something we could do. I wouldn't have minded sparing some money for her. Besides, the Industry Act helped my career so much that I would be happy to help some of the families that weren't quite as benefitted by it."

"There were a lot of problems with some of them trying to falsely befriend more successful people to get additional points for their children. It was dishonest. Also, you know that the government has to provide incentives for people to be financially responsible instead of just sucking up."

"Yes, I know, I know. This just seems like a girl who's falling through the cracks." Junko said sadly. Kamijo's father made a noise of affirmation.

"No system is perfect. It's sad that a few may suffer more than the others, but I guess that's just the way it has to be. I wish it wasn't a friend of any of our children though. Maybe she'll be alright?" Kamijo-san didn't even sound like he believed his own optimistic thoughts. Madoka rushed up to her room.

She sat on her comfortable bed full of adorable large plush animals. She looked to her bedside table where she had a picture of her, Sayaka, and Hitomi smiling in a park. Well, Madoka and Hitomi were smiling; Sayaka looked more like she was trying to make a goofy face but couldn't stop laughing.

Madoka's lip quivered. She wasn't sure what would happen to Sayaka, but she hoped it would be nothing bad.

 _What's the worst that could happen?_

A dark thought passed through her mind and she couldn't help but let a squeaky sob sneak out. She buried her head into an oversized panda doll. She had only ever seen photos of them; they had gone extinct almost two centuries ago. Still, they were adorable animals and she loved them.

Her CB beeped. She had a message from Sayaka.

 _"How's the party?"_

Madoka smiled sadly. She wished Sayaka was here so Sayaka could tell her not to worry, because her parents had magically come into a bunch of cash and bought 20,000 points for her.

 _"It's alright. It would be a lot more fun if you were here. Are you feeling better?"_

She didn't want to accuse Sayaka of lying. She figured that would be a great way to start a fight, and she hated those.

 _"A lot better, thanks! I'm still not sure if I'll go to school tomorrow, but I don't have my head in the toilet anymore which is nice."_

Madoka cringed at the description. Sayaka had a bad tendency to give too much information about some things.

 _"That sounds terrible. I hope you're better soon. Did you make your selections today?"_

Madoka hoped she wasn't out of line asking that. She thought this could be a good way to bring up the subject in a way that wasn't accusatory but she wasn't sure….she had a feeling this was one of those situations that her Mom had warned her about where you couldn't win.

Sayaka took ten minutes to respond. Madoka never took her eyes off her CB. It felt much longer than ten minutes.

 _"Yeah, but I don't know if I'll get them. Did you?"_

 _"Yeah. I'm hoping to get into veterinary medicine but I'm not sure if I'll get it."_ She lied. She knew lying was wrong, but if what Kamijo-san had said was true, the reality would not be what Sayaka would need to hear right now.

 _"I bet you will. You'd be a great vet!"_

Madoka wondered if she should ask what Sayaka requested. A new message from her interrupted her thoughts.

 _"I just found the awesomest game today! It's called Flutterfly. So basically you're this butterfly and you're trying to get pollen from as many flowers as possible. But you have to watch out for these killer bees that can sting you and-"_

Madoka read the message fondly. This would be something that Sayaka would be excited about.

Or it could be the perfect way to change the topic.

Madoka frowned as she read the messages that followed.

* * *

Sayaka dreaded the day as her CB's alarm clock beeped shrilly into her ear. She waved her hand above it to make it snooze, hoping she could somehow delay the day from happening.

She knew she couldn't hide away from these problems forever, so she might as well get up and face them.

Madoka's Mom once said that if you're feeling bad for whatever reason, you should get as pretty as possible. It's supposed to make you feel better.

After forty five minutes of showering, blowdrying her hair, and (attempting) to put on makeup, she realized that maybe it made you feel better if you actually knew _how_ to do it. Her eyelids looked _way_ too blue and she looked like a clown.

She rolled her eyes and wiped everything off. There was a bit of mascara left, but that at least looked nice so she left it.

She felt a tiny bit better, but she still felt her gut twisting in anxiety.

Her CB alerted her that her adrenaline levels seemed high. She ignored it. She already knew that.

Her parents had to leave early to go to work. Neither had a particularly glamourous job. Her mother was now a cleaner working shift-work in the services industry while her father was a low-level accounting clerk in the corporate and finance industries. They used to own a cleaning service and a bookkeeping firm respectively and had done fairly well. They would have been able to pay for at least 5,000 points before. That probably would have put her in the clear at least.

She sighed. It was no use getting upset about her parents' lack of points. She should have worked harder from the start. She had no one to blame for whatever happened but herself.

There was an omelet and bacon in the shape of a smiley face with a note saying 'good luck!' She smiled sadly to herself and ate the food that had gone cold. She left at her usual time; 6:45 am. School started at 8:30. She hoped the walk would make her feel better.

She soon found out that it didn't.

Really, she could have skipped school today. This was the last day of middle school for them. They were just going to be watching movies and partying anyways. They only had half a day of school because they were getting their selections at noon and the teachers were smart enough to realize that no one would be able to concentrate after that.

"Good morning Sayaka! Are you feeling better?" Hitomi asked politely. Sayaka nodded but she had trouble actually speaking. She hoped Hitomi wouldn't press it.

Thankfully, Madoka was actually early for once.

"Good morning! I could barely sleep last night, I was so worried about today." Madoka practically said it in one breath. Sayaka had had the same problem. Hitomi just smiled.

Sayaka sometimes wondered what was going through her head, but didn't press the matter. She accepted that Hitomi was a bit mysterious at times.

"Me too! I'll feel better when it's over with." Sayaka said honestly. She changed the topic and started talking about this other game she had discovered called zombie fighters; it was like all those zombie games, but instead you were the zombie and you were trying to infect as many people as possible before you starved. It got harder and harder as more people were turned. It was a pretty cool game. Madoka listened and nodded politely (Sayaka knew she didn't really care about games like this) while Hitomi stared off into the distance.

Even Sayaka felt like the conversation was painfully benign, but she preferred it to talking about requests, exams, or selections.

Sayaka realized soon after school had started that she had been right. She should have skipped it.

Selections this. Points that. Requests this. Exams that.

Sayaka just hoped no one would ask her about anything.

She was grateful when the teacher Saotome-sensei put on a light-hearted comedy to get everyone's minds off of the life changing message everyone was going to receive in the next two hours.

Unfortunately, the movie ended two minutes before selections were expected to go out. The chatter was loud and unbearable.

"What do you think I'll get? Do you think I'll get one of my top three requests?"

"How many people do you think requested teaching? Do you think there were a lot?"

"Do you think my parents will kill me if I actually get my top choice? It wasn't what they want me to do…"

Sayaka felt like she was about to throw up.

"Sayaka? You don't look so good. Are you okay?" Madoka was worried. Sayaka wanted to hit herself. She hated making Madoka upset.

"Yeah, of course I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Ten seconds left!" Someone shouted.

The class started counting down in unison. Sayaka thought she felt anxious before, but it was nothing compared to now. She choked out the numbers with everyone else.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

Everyone's CB's beeped in unison. No one made a sound as everyone checked their selections.

Everyone except for Sayaka.

The first person shouted.

"A _dentist_? I wanted to be a doctor!"

"Cool, I'm going to be a firefighter!"

"Does anyone know what a mortician does?"

Everyone scurried around to talk to their friends. Others ran into the halls to find their friends in other classes.

"I did it! I got in!" Kyousuke was half-laughing, half-shouting. He was in disbelief. Sayaka wasn't. She was sure he'd get it. "Hitomi, Sayaka, look!"

Surely enough, his hologram message was displaying: _Arts and Culture – Federal Orchestra_

"That's amazing, congratulations!" Hitomi grinned as she hugged him. He hugged her back tightly. Sayaka felt a few questions bubbling in the back of her mind, but she suppressed them.

She knew what she had to do.

She opened her message as discretely as possible.

"What did you get Hitomi?" Kyousuke asked.

"I'm very excited! I never would have thought of it. I got _Arts and Culture – Museum Curator._ "

"You'd be great at that! How about you Madoka?" Kyousuke asked excitedly.

"I got my request. I'm going to be a veterinarian." She said cheerily, but she sent tense glances over to Sayaka. "What about you, Sayaka?"

Sayaka had already closed her message and hid her arm behind her. She was trying to blink back tears. She should have seen it coming. She _had_ seen it coming. But a part of her was still hopeful she would somehow get something, _anything_ else.

"Sorry guys!" She choked out, failing miserably at sounding excited. "I'm going to keep it a secret for now. I just really want to tell my parents first. They'll be so excited. Anyways, you all have a great summer!"

She rushed passed them, shoving Kyousuke so hard to the side that he stumbled as he tried to regain his balance. She sprinted out of the building and ran home. The weather was beautiful and she hated it because it wasn't right at all. If it had been raining, it might have been less obvious that she was crying as the mascara-dyed tears streamed down her face.

The sunny sky didn't match the death sentence flashing on her wrist.

 _Military – Ground Corps_

* * *

 **AN:** For a very long time now, I've wished that I had a dream that could be turned into a decent storyline, but most of my dreams have been way too stupid. This is the first time something decent has actually come of one! Huzzah!

I actually had to check with a few friends first to make sure my dream wasn't just ripping off a movie I saw and forgot about. It seems like there have been so many dystopian future things lately, and I'm totally hopping on that bandwagon; it's just so interesting! If anyone finds this to be a total rip off, please let me know (and what of); I know this loosely borrow ideas from other places, but hopefully it's different enough that it can stand on its own. I don't want to do any unintentional copyright infringement.

I really debated between making this magical or non-magical, but in the end I'm making it non-magical which was the original plan (though it makes me a little sad). There would have been a major, major plot hole if it was magical that I don't think I could close and of course, Kyubey and witches would add so much and I'm not sure how I could integrate them well. I apologize to any of you who prefer magical AUs.

If anyone reads my other PMMM story, I'm still working on that one (though the chapters will take longer than this one to come out because they're a lot bigger). I'm not ditching it, I promise!

Please review! I always love reading them. Constructive criticism is always welcome. It would also be great if someone were willing to be a beta (assuming we do not discover that this actual was a total rip-off of another story I subconsciously remember). Story plans and spoilers will be provided if you volunteer!


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